National Cook a Sweet Potato Day is a holiday observed annually on February 22nd, encouraging everyone to cook a sweet potato. Why should anyone cook a sweet potato on this day, or any day of the year? It’s because sweet potatoes are packed with nutrition and offer several health benefits when consumed regularly.

They’re also very tasty—regardless of whether you use them to make sweet potato fries, baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato pancakes, or sweet potato pie. So go ahead, grab a few of these spuds, and celebrate this holiday with friends and family.

Interesting Facts About Sweet Potatoes

Let’s go over some interesting facts about sweet potatoes that we discovered while writing about this holiday. We think the following facts are the perfect accompaniment to any National Cook a Sweet Potato Day celebration.

• Sweet potatoes contain only 86 calories per 3.5-ounce serving.
• A medium-sized sweet potato contains 3.8 grams of fiber.
• Sweet potatoes are originally from South America.
• Sweet potatoes contain no cholesterol or fat.
• The heaviest sweet potato ever harvested weighed approximately 81 pounds and 9 ounces.
• In 2007, North Carolina produced over 667 million pounds of sweet potatoes.
• In 2007, per capita consumption of sweet potatoes was 4.6 pounds per person.

Observing Cook a Sweet Potato Day

There are so many sweet potato recipes out there that you could make a new dish every year and never have to repeat the same dish. There are candied sweet potatoes, sweet potato burritos, and even sweet potato bread.

And of course, you can steam, microwave, and mash them just like regular white potatoes. While observing this holiday, be sure to use the hashtag #CookASweetPotatoDay on your social media accounts.